NBIAA

The New Brunswick Interscholastic Atheletic Association's New Rules
By Jessica Johnson

There is an uproar in the basketball scene with parents, coaches and players. The New Brunswick Interscholastic Atheletic Association(NBIAA) has recently decided to make a few changes to the rules for playing on a sport team. This is leaving many people questioning why, as the reasons for these new changes has never been said.

Players are now no longer allowed to miss any school time for games or tournaments, unless they are leaving to play at a time arranged after school hours. Players cannot travel a round trip over 4 hours and it must be in day light, unless you are planning on spending the night wherever you're going. Parents are now required to increase their insurance to 2 million in liability coverage and must have snow tires if they are driving around another athelete who is not their own child In addition, athletes must have their parents sign permission slips to let their child travel with them too.

It has been said that the Bathurst tragedy is the cause of these changes, but that wouldn't make much sense since the accident happened only 5km away from their hometown. By saying this, the board is making it seem like it would be unsafe for Leo Hayes to travel to Oromocto. Many coaches have quit their positions, because they do not agree with the new rules, and are not willing to work around them. Tournaments such as Sussex High's Riverboat Tournament has had to be cancelled, because they cannot work the schedule around the new rules: they have been hosting the tournament for over 25 years. Dalhouise also had to do the same. Coaches are very angry that these new rules are only applying to athletes, and do not involve drama or music.

I think that if athletes are being affected by these rules, then they should also apply to every extra-curricular activity. The NBIAA should focus more on making rules for when there is severe weather or storms, and not so much on students missing school or how far they are travelling. We need to respect what has happened to the Bathurst team, but it was an accident and could happen to anyone, at any time.